Mr Bongo Record Club - Volume 2

Mr Bongo Record Club - Volume 2

Mr Bongo

As far as feverishly anticipated follow ups go, Mr Bongo's sophomore Record Club release is up there with Stranger Things, Blade Runner and the next round of charges to be levelled at the Drumpf administration.

Speaking of feverish, what better word to describe Elbernita 'Zwinkie' Star's Awake O Zion, an Afro-tinged Disco juggernaut that sets the tone for a right old party. That's just what is in store here, 14 tracks (or 18 if you cop the CD version) of infectious African and Latin grooves and rump-rattling rumpus, all influenced by the global Disco phenomenon that swept the globe around the time of these recordings.

Volume One sold out in minutes and was picked by Lauren Laverne as her album of the day on 6 Music. This time round, we've got even more Disco and Soul in favour of a few more traditional sounds, which is marvellous news for anyone throwing a dancing party. 

Highlights are many but Kiru Stars (Julius Kang’ethe) by Family Planning is sublime, while Dee Edwards' Put Your Love On the Line stands out, not only as the only American track featured, but as a bona fide stomper. Elias Rahbani And His Orchestra's Liza… Liza is also particularly curious - is it Bollywood? Genuinely not sure. Anyway, it's all bloody brilliant, go buy.

TRACKLIST (VINYL 2-LP): A1. Elbernita ‘twinkie’ Clark – Awake O Zion (full length, original version) / A2. Dee Edwards – Put Your Love On The Line / A3. Anubis – Ecology / B1. Guy Cuevas – Ebony Game / B2. Kiru Stars (Julius Kang’ethe) – Family Planning / B3. Teaspoon & The Waves – Oh Yeh Soweto / C1. Leny Andrade – Não Adianta / C2. Rosa Maria – Samba Maneiro / C3. Tom & Dito – Obrigado Corcovado / C4. Inezita Barroso – Maracatu Elegante / C5. Joao Diaz – Capoeira / C6. The Equatics – Merry Go Round / D1. Elias Rahbani And His Orchestra – Liza… Liza / D2. The Beaters – Harari

TRACKLIST, (CD): 1. Luiz Henrique – Mas Que Nada / 2. Elbernita ‘twinkie’ Clark – Awake O Zion / 3. Guy Cuevas – Ebony Game / 4. Kiru Stars (Julius Kang’ethe) – Family Planning / 5. Kelenkye Band – Jungle Music / 6. Effi Duke & The Love Family – The Time Is Come / 7. Anubis – Ecology / 8. Dee Edwards – Put Your Love On The Line / 9. Teaspoon & The Waves – Oh Yeh Soweto / 10. Oby Onyioha – Enjoy Your Life / 11. Leny Andrade – Não Adianta / 12. Rosa Maria – Samba Maneiro / 13. Tom & Dito – Obrigado Corcovado / 14. Inezita Barroso – Maracatu Elegante / 15. Joao Diaz – Capoeira / 16. Elias Rahbani And His Orchestra – Liza… Liza / 17. The Beaters – Harari / 18. The Equatics – Merry Go Round

Toby Tobias - Resista 010

Toby Tobias - Resista 101

Resista

Some pure sunshine music from the Resista camp with the 10th episode of their vinyl only series. This time they've enlisted Toby Tobias, who has in turn enlisted Gabonese icon Pierre Akendengue. Side 1 is a straight edit, Tobias wielding his scalpel deftly to reimagine the track Yola as a magical slice of Gabonese Disco-Pop. On the flip, House on the hill is somewhere closer to an original track, blending samples of Akendengue and some looping Balafon percussion with swirling pads and just enough bass to keep the dancefloor moving.

Available from lots of stockists, including Phonica 

Sory Bamba - Du Mali (Repress)

Sory Bamba - Du Mali

Africa 7

Africa 7 Records have just released a huge number of rare-as-Theresa May-vertebrae African funk records from the Sonodisc catalogue. This is documented far more thoroughly than CMFCP cares to on an excellent Bandcamp exposé which includes interviews with the Africa 7 bosses. Check it out here 

We just wanted to draw particular attention to the positively bananas Du Mali by Malian legend Sory Bamba

It's bloody marvellous. Buy it, you won't be 'Sory'

Manu Dibango - Electric Africa

Manu Dibango

Electric Africa

Tidal Waves Music

TWM10

Manu Dibango needs little introduction, born in Cameroon in 1933, Manu developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk, and traditional Cameroonian music. He’s definitely among the best known African artists outside of Africa. Collaborations were numerous and include top acts like Fela Kuti, Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, Sly & Robbie, Don Cherry and Bernie Worrell. In addition to selling hundreds of thousands of copies of the albums he recorded, he played such huge venues as Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden.

In 1972, at 40 years of age, Manu Dibango did something almost unheard of for an African artist – he had a pop hit. His song “Soul Makossa” became an enormous hit which influenced popular music for decades to follow. First picked up by David Mancuso (The Loft), “Soul Makossa” took New York dance floors by storm & in July 1973 it became the first disco record to enter the Billboard Top 40—an early instance of Western pop experiencing a paradigm shift thanks to Africa. The song’s chant of “ma-mako ma-ma-sa mako-mako sa” echoes through the greatest-selling pop album of all-time, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and it’s in the DNA of the music of Kanye West, Rihanna, A Tribe Called Quest, Akon and The Fugees.

By 1985, Dibango was back in Paris, one of the most successful African artists in the world, to start on the recordings for the Electric Africa album. This album hooked Manu and the Soul Makossa Gang up with New York avant garde producer Bill Laswell, jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, Parliament-Funkadelic keyboard player Bernie Worrell, Pan African synthesist Wally Badarou, New York guitarist Nicky Scopelitis, African drummer Aiyb Dieng and Malian kora virtuoso Mory Kante. This means of working gave Manu and Laswell license to fuse synthesizers and kora, talking drums and samples, ngoni and electric guitar. What it all boils down to is world beat in its truest sense.

Electric Africa remains one of Manu’s strongest albums. His deep growl of a honey and sandpaper voice and the energetic honk of his saxophone merge with the seamless samples and the myriad hand percussion and overt funkiness of his band. Herbie Hancock plays on three tracks, contributing an amazing electric piano solo on the title track and interacting with Manu’s sax while weaving to the warp of Mory Kante’s kora during “L’arbre a Palabres.” Similarly but more subtly, Laswell, Badarou and Worrell play dueling synthesizers in and around the band throughout ”Pata Piya.” All of this makes the album an hypnotic & upbeat Afro-Funk classic that will rock every part your body (and mind). Now finally back available as a limited vinyl edition for the first time since 1985.

Buy here: https://lightintheattic.net/releases/3536-electric-africa

Tony Allen & Afrobeat 2000 - NEPA (Don Dayglow Remix)

More Afrobeat meets Disco here as the devilishly handsome and charismatic Don Dayglow reimagines Tony Allen's 1984 jam NEPA Dance Dub

Free Download too!

Nik WESTON presents KIKI GYAN/TUNJI OYELANA (Mukatsuku Records)

Mukatsuku Records are one of my personal favourites - I've bought so many releases over the years and almost all of them are still regular selections. A heady blend of really, really good remastering and a great ear for a funky gem make Nik Weston's releases essential purchases for many Funk, Soul, Jazz, Afrobeat and Disco DJs. If, like me, you play a lot of all those genres, you'll be hard pushed to find a more consistently excellent label for your needs. Some tracks are hitherto unknown, but what i like is that the first criteria seems to be 'is it really fucking good?' rather than 'is it really fucking rare?' - so we also get Fela Kuti, Grant Green and other well known artists featuring in the catalogue.
Every purchase comes with some stickers and a genuine-sounding note from Nik that displays a heartfelt gratitude to his customers. It's the little things, and marks Nik out as the sort of chap one would enjoy a good pint with. I've never met him though, He could be a psychopath. Or a Tory voter.

The latest offering is a welcome installment in my Afrobeat/Afro-Funk education, featuring, as it does, a couple of artists whose work is new to me. Kiki Gyan delivers an extremely happy slice of Ghanian Disco with Love To Love You, which is followed on the flip by Tunji Oyelana's wonderfully jaunty It's Not Your Fault. Both are Nik Weston edits and his sure touch make for killer afro-funk cuts. Get in my basket.